Characters / Jennifer's Body

Main Characters

Jennifer Check

Played By: Megan Fox

• Alas, Poor Villain: The fact that Jennifer is possessed shows she's not in complete control of her actions and by doing the ritual on her, Low Shoulder is pretty much responsible for her death. Needy mourns her and may still have feelings for her after killing her, and sets out to avenge her original death.
• All Take and No Give: As Needy points out, Jennifer is a terrible friend who constantly pushes Needy around and drags her wherever she goes, without considering her feelings or providing any support in return. Her finally realizing this causes her to let Needy kill her.
• Alpha Bitch: She's a popular color guarder who's also a massive bitch, to the point where the other students consider her "evil." Despite this, guys trip over themselves to impress her. She does have shades of a nicer side, at least at first, but only to Needy. However, Needy says she wasn't a good friend even when they were kids; she would steal her toys and pour lemonade on her bed.
• Ambiguously Bi: Much like Needy, she shows many traits of this, actually trying to seduce her (and succeeding) at one point. (invokedMegan Fox says that she played Jennifer as a deeply closeted lesbian.) She also utters this great line:
  Needy: I thought you only killed boys!
  Jennifer: I go both ways.
• Berserk Button: Don't tell her about how she had to use laxatives to stay skinny back when she was alive.
• Big Bad: Her boy-eating rampage drives the plot.
• Big Bad Friend: She was Needy's Childhood Friends and Best Friend before she got possessed.
• Blatant Lies: She claims to be a virgin in an attempt to escape from Low Shoulder, with one of the band members even doubting her honesty due to how obviously false that statement is. Unfortunately, Nikolai falls for it.
• Blessed with Suck: Unlike Needy, who is Cursed with Awesome, Jennifer enjoys her powers but she's also a mangled, evil demon that needs to feed on others to survive.
• Brainy Brunette: Inverted. She's your typical vapid cheerleader, while her blonde best friend Needy is a nerd.
• Breast Attack: Needy stabs her breasts to get to her heart. Jennifer's last words are even "my tit!".
• Cruel Cheerleader: A cruel, vapid and bitchy cheerleader, and that's before she gets possessed.
• Cursed with Awesome: She seems to think so after becoming possessed by the demon, but in reality it's Blessed with Suck.
• Decoy Protagonist: Her name may be in the title, but the story is about Needy.
• Depraved Bisexual: Possibly. She "go[es] both way" by her own admission, but Megan Fox has stated that she viewed Jennifer as gay. But she still kills and eats people, and even before that, she was a Manipulative Bitch who bullied Needy.
• Drunk on the Dark Side: Jennifer really enjoys her new powers after becoming possessed and seems to revel in the murders she commits. She wasn't evil before her change, but her turn to evil does involve the flaws she already had consuming her.
• Enemy to All Living Things: Subverted. The animals are drawn to her due to the scent of death, both from her and of her victims.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Even at her lowest moments, Jennifer can't quite bring herself to kill Needy. After Needy rips off Jennifer's friendship necklace, the weight of her actions and how she ruined their friendship finally sinks in, and she allows Needy to finish her off.
• Family of Choice: Where does Jennifer go right after having been sacrificed and killed by Low Shoulder? She doesn't go home, she goes straight to Needy's house. For as bitchy as she was before her transformation, she clearly viewed Needy as someone she could run to if she was in danger.
• Faux Affably Evil: Following her transformation, any of "kindness" that Jennifer shows towards men is just a means to continue feeding.
• For the Evulz: When she could've eaten any other guy, she killed Chip just to hurt Needy.
• Fille Fatale: It can be easy to forget because of Dawson Casting, but Jennifer is in her last year of high school and extremely sexually active, including with adult men.
• Friendly Enemy: Zigzagged towards Needy, kind of. But Needy soon figures out that this is at least partially a pretense because Jennifer still needed to feel superior so she could hurt Needy more.
• Game Face: Jennifer's face transforms into her new demonic visage when she's feeding, or when she's trying to intimidate someone. It mostly involves a Monster Mouth with rows of razor-sharp fangs.
• Giggling Villain: When she is Drunk on the Dark Side, particularly during the final act.
• A God Am I: She tells Needy this when defending her current situation. After realizing her newfound healing ability, Jennifer burns her tongue with a lighter, then loudly declares "I am a god."
• Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: It's heavily implied that the reason she sleeps around so much and flirts with boys is to cover up her own feelings for Needy. Megan Fox also said that she played Jennifer as a deeply closeted lesbian, further playing into this.
• Healing Factor: Jennifer can regenerate from any injury, she recovered from being impaled through the stomach, having her tongue burned and having her arm cut with a needle.
• Horror Hunger: She vomits a trail of black, spiny fluid if she eats anything but men. But she does adapt to her new diet very well.
• Iconic Outfit: Jennifer likes to sleep in a 3/4-sleeve shirt, short underwear, and either knee-length socks or legwarmers.
• I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: She uses her assets to get drinks despite being underage, and believes that breasts are like smart bombs that give women power.
  Jennifer:(when asked how she will get alcohol) Uh, I'll just play hello titty with the bartender.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Post-possession, she has to eat the people she kills. If her attempts at eating a roast chicken are any indication, she literally can't eat anything else.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Needy outright says in the finale that much of her haughty behavior is a cover for deep insecurities. Jennifer's response shows that such a claim struck a nerve.
• Jerkass: More so in the post demonic possession, where any Hidden Heart of Gold she'd displayed beforehand has ceased to exist.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: After her demonic transformation, she's originally horrified with herself. However, she quickly acclimates and even revels in her powers as she continually feeds on men.
• Kick the Dog: She murders Chip just to hurt Needy.
• Literal Maneater: She seduces men, luring them in with the promise of sex... and then kills them and eats their remains.
• Ms. Fanservice: She wears very revealing clothing throughout the movie, usually baring her legs and acting very sexually aggressive. She also has a Skinny Dipping scene with a shot of her surfacing from the water naked, although the scene combines Foot Focus, Shoulders-Up Nudity and Toplessness from the Back to hide any of her naughty bits.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: In the final fight before her death, Jennifer bites Needy and in doing so transfers some of her demonic spirit and powers to Needy so that she may in a sense still live on through her.
• My God, What Have I Done?: At the end, she is shown to be crying before getting ready for prom, implying that she is feeling a bit remorseful for what she is about to do to Chip.
  • During their climactic fight, it seems to finally sink in how much she's hurt her Best Friend when Needy rips off her B.F.F. necklace. She then stops fighting back, allowing Needy to kill her.
• Narcissist: Even prior to her transformation, Jennifer was incredibly vain, shallow, and self-absorbed, often putting her own desires over Needy despite her genuine friendship with her. After her transformation, all of these traits are amplified to a horrific degree and she becomes an egotistical monster, both figuratively and literally.
• Odd Friendship: Her friendship with Needy is noted to be unusual by both of them, considering Jennifer is an Alpha Bitch and Needy is a kindhearted nerd.
• Pink Is Erotic: Pink is used predominantly in the film and is associated with Jennifer, a sexually confident teenager who is possessed by a succubus who seduces men so she can eat them.
• Popular Is Dumb: The most popular girl in school, who isn't very smart. On the surface, at least.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Initially, she only killed who she needed in order to survive. This goes out the window as she attempts to feed on Chip out of spite.
• Psycho Lesbian: Another possible interpretation of Jennifer's behavior. While she does seduce (and kill) boys, she is really only attached to Needy, and her flirtation and hooking up with Needy is contrasted with the lack of enjoyment she gets from boys.
• Really Gets Around: Jennifer has been sleeping around since Junior High. When Low Shoulder assumes she's a virgin and tries to use her for a Virgin Sacrifice, it turns her into a Literal Maneater Succubus.
• Sadist: She quickly begins to enjoy murdering for the sake of it and relishes in the fear she brings her victims.
• Self-Mutilation Demonstration: Jennifer burns her own tongue with a cigarette lighter, and slashes herself in front of Needy when she decides to share her 'secret' with her.
• Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: In one scene, she gains this look in an Ethereal White Dress and wet, unkempt hair. While not a ghost, It's very similar to this spirit.
• Slasher Smile: Jennifer displays one at various times. Most notably after she first becomes possessed and when she appears in Needy's vision sitting on top of the chair watching her and Chip have sex.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Her stigma against boys was because she was treated as a sex object and (according to Megan Fox) she played up the sex appeal in order to conceal her feelings for Needy. Low Shoulder sacrificed Jennifer under the belief she was a virgin and her body was possessed a succubus, a being that saw her as the perfect vessel due to her beauty.
• Succubi and Incubi: Jennifer turns into a type of succubus after she's sacrificed by Nikola, supposedly due to them trying to do a Virgin Sacrifice but her not being a virgin. As a Succubus she becomes a demonic sexual predator who seduces human men in order to devour them as a Literal Maneater, which is the only way a succubus can sustain themselves, thus preserving their Healing Factor and enhanced strength. Her appearance doesn't change, except when she's preparing to devour her victims, which causes her to get a demonic Game Face with a Monster Mouth.
• Straw Feminist: Jennifer has a bit of this trait, claiming that PMS was invented by "boy-run media to make (women) seem crazy". An unused exchange between her and Needy also has her trying to justify her murders thus:

  Needy: You're killing people!
  Jennifer: No, I'm killing boys.

• Tragic Villain: A textbook case where things beyond her control and her own fatal flaws prove her undoing. While initially a stuck-up Alpha Bitch, she is genuinely terrified for her life when Low Shoulder try to sacrifice her. As a result of her Demonic Possession, she is initially forced to kill and devour people to survive, while her toxic traits seem to amplify. Even after killing her, Needy still remembers Jennifer as the friend she lost before all this happened.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Childhood flashbacks show Jennifer and Needy as innocent children playing in the sandbox, which Needy flashes back to as she stabs Jennifer's heart.
  Sandbox love never dies.
• Villain Protagonist: She's the film's main character other than Needy, and minutes into it she becomes a Literal Maneater that wants to devour every boy in her school.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: She and Chip take snipes at each other, but Chip still ultimately considers her a friend and is immediately willing to let her be his rebound girl after Needy breaks up with him. Jennifer might have also felt something for him before becoming a monster.

Anita "Needy" Lesnicki

Played By: Amanda Seyfried

• Ambiguously Bi: She is in a romantic relationship with Chip, and clearly cares about him very deeply. She also makes out with Jennifer, and seems to be really into it before she breaks it off. It's heavily implied her feelings for Jennifer borders onto the romantic.
• Avenging the Villain: After killing Jennnifer, she absorbs some of her powers and uses them to track down and slaughter Low Shoulder for what they did to her friend.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: She ends the film having become just like Jennifer, demonic man-slaughtering powers and everything.
• Berserk Button: Don't tell her what to eat. An orderly lost a tooth when she recommended she eat more than Toastems.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She's very sweet-natured and lovable but is not to be messed with as Jennifer finds out the hard way.
• Break the Cutie: She starts as a kind but insecure Shrinking Violet, then has to deal with her best friend transforming into a monstrous demon, people around her dying, losing her boyfriend, then finally having to kill Jennifer and being locked up in a mental ward. Fortunately, she ends up gaining Jennifer's demon powers and decides to do something about it.
• The Cassandra: She tries to tell everyone over and over that Jennifer is a monster, both before and after her death, and even after that, she tries to convince the psych ward staff about the devil sacrifice. Nobody believes her.
• Cursed with Awesome: When Needy kills Jennifer, she gains some of her powers, which boils down to: all the good ones, none of the bad. However, unlike Jennifer, Needy doesn't relish them but uses them to get her job done.
• Dumb Blonde: Inverted. She's incredibly smart, in contrast with her dumb popular and brunette friend Jennifer.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: After killing Jennifer, she's seen by the public as a murderer and locked away when she tries to reveal the truth. After escaping and taking revenge on Nikolai and his band (who are still seen as public heroes), it's implied she becomes a fugitive afterwards.
• Hollywood Homely: Invoked. Needy has to be more plain around Jennifer.
• Kill the Ones You Love: Is ultimately forced to kill Jennifer, both as a mercy killing and to avenge Chip, but she still clearly cares and grieves for her after doing so.
• Narrator: She's the story's narrator.
• Nerd Glasses: She wears a very unflattering pair of nerdy glasses.
• Nerds Are Virgins: Subverted. Despite having a rather nerdy appearance and demeanor, she has sex with Chip part way through the film.
• Nice Girl: Generally a kind and sweet-natured person, especially when compared to Jennifer.
• Oh, Crap!: In the Unrated version, she is the first one besides Nikolai to notice the fire starting at the bar, and watches it spread in stunned silence. In the script, she almost catches onto Nikolai when she sees him smirking as the fire spreads.
• One Hero, Hold the Weaksauce: She ends the film with powers similar to Jennifer's but without the physical transformation or need to feed.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: No one ever calls her "Anita."
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: She slaughters Low Shoulder at the end of the movie for what they turned Jennifer into.
• Shipper on Deck: She ships Jennifer/Colin, and encourages Jennifer to go out with him. This doesn't end well.
• Supporting Protagonist: She's The Hero of the film, but still takes a secondary role to Villain Protagonist Jennifer.
• Took a Level in Badass: After gaining part of Jennifer's powers, she breaks out and massacres all of Low Shoulder.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: She becomes extremely violent and unstable after being well and truly broken. The How We Got Here opening has her kicking an orderly (whose only "crime" was to chastise Needy for her choice of food) so hard she knocks one of her teeth out.
  Needy: I recommend that you shut the fuck up!

Supporting Cast and Others

Chip

Played By: Johnny Simmons

• Character Death: The last of Jennifer's victims.
• Clingy Jealous Guy: He's very possessive of Needy, being jealous of her relationship with both Jennifer and Colin. However Jennifer is shown to be a Toxic Friend Influence, meaning his criticisms about Needy's relationship with her is valid and he does genuienly love Needy.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: He dies in Needy's arms after Jennifer tore his neck open.
• Dogged Nice Guy: A positive version, but he is very possessive of Needy and jealous of her friendship with Colin.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: Chip's impalement of Jennifer.
• Face Death with Dignity: He impales Jennifer, which fails to kill her, but he still gets serious points for trying, and then, as he lies dying, he uses his last moments to try and comfort Needy, telling her that he loves her, and peacefully accepting that it's his time to go.
• Nice Guy: He's kind and supportive of Needy, and seems to get along well with everyone except Jennifer, which isn't for lack of trying on his part and is almost totally on her.
• Sacrificial Lion: His death is what makes Needy finally, really commit to killing Jennifer for once and all.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He and Jennifer take snipes at each other, but Chip still ultimately considers her a friend and is immediately willing to let her be his rebound girl after Needy breaks up with him, though soon after backs out since it "feels weird". Jennifer might have also felt something for him before becoming a monster.

Nikolai Wolf

Played By: Adam Brody

• Asshole Victim: Needy violently kills him with the same knife he used to kill Jennifer.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He has Adam Brody's charm and is a vile monster underneath.
• Deal with the Devil: He sacrifices Jennifer to Satan in order to achieve fame. It works, but that doesn't stop Needy from stabbing him death after the fact.
• Faux Affably Evil: He can be exceptionally charming and charismatic, as one would expect from the front man of a band, but it's all an act.
• Greater-Scope Villain: His Human Sacrifice of Jennifer made her what she became.
• Hate Sink: He's an arrogant, misogynistic, sadistic, devil-worshipping prick without a single redeeming quality.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Killed by Needy with the same knife he used to sacrifice Jennifer.
• Hollywood Satanism: Practices human sacrifice in Satan's name to get a record deal, it's heavily implied that he practices dark magic, especially in the movies script.
• Horrible Judge of Character: He believes Jennifer to be a virgin after their first conversation. This is blatantly not true, to the point that even one of his bandmates comments on how unlikely that is, yet Nikolai ignores his warnings.
• Jerkass: Even beyond his obvious evil deeds of killing an innocent girl for a record deal, he and his band go out of their way to mock Jennifer as she's dying, seemingly for no other reason than they feel like it.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: He and his band get away with both starting the fire at the bar and their murder of Jennifer, becoming heroes in the public eye and boosting their success as a result. Then Needy comes calling, with the demonic powers their ritual had given Jennifer now inside of her, to kill them all as vengeance.
• Kick the Dog: Before killing Jennifer, he makes sure to lead his band in a song while doing so just to mock her.
• The Leader: Of his indie rock band, "Low Shoulder".
• Obviously Evil: Needy knows there is something up with him the minute she overhears him talking about Jennifer; her narration strait up a describes him as evil as he lures Jennifer to his van, especially with all his knowing smiles during the fire. Despite this he remains a Villain with Good Publicity throughout. In the script, she spots his Psychotic Smirk coinciding with her Oh, Crap! moment during the fire, and nearly puts two and two together.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Who would've guessed that "Nikolai Wolf" is a villain?
• Religion of Evil: He and his band are Satan worshipers.
• Rock Me, Asmodeus!: His group is a parody in the form of an emo band called Low Shoulder. The song "Through the Trees" is pure 2000s pop-emo as its most sensitive and lovelorn, while the band's members use their personas as sensitive nice guys to pick up chicks.
• Smug Snake: Is always seen with a calm and proud demeanour, almost always on top of every situation, especially with his knowing Psychotic Smirk as his fire spreads.
• The Sociopath: On top of his blatantly shallow charisma, Nikolai has no concept of empathy and sees nothing wrong with sacrificing an entire building full of people or a teenage girl to achieve his goals.
• Stupid Evil: He falls for Jennifer's claims of being a virgin and doesn't seem to realize that making a Deal with the Devil might not be a good idea in the long run.
• Villain with Good Publicity: The band became local heroes in town for "helping people" escape the fire at the bar, despite them being the ones that caused it in the first place.
• Villain Song: Inverted. His hit "Through The Trees" is a life affirming song about overcoming loss, and becomes the anthem of Devils Kettle after their show catches fire. It is also the song he sings to keep his audience entranced during said fire.
• Virgin Sacrifice: A Satan worshiper that was looking for a virgin to sacrifice to Satan so he and his band could cut a record deal.

Colin Gray

Played By: Kyle Gallner

• Character Death: He ends up as the third of Jennifer's victims.
• Emo/Goth: He has the hairstyle and wears makeup and has piercings. Needy describes him as "dark and emotional".
• Nice Guy: Despite his goth sensibilities, he's very friendly, and is good friends with Needy.

Mr. Wroblewski

Played By: J. K. Simmons

• Artificial Limbs: His left hand is a hook-shaped pincer. Nobody comments on it, but he does use it to offer tissues to an emotionally devastated student.
• From Bad to Worse: He provides exposition on who the casualties were in the fire: numerous students, parents, and a beloved Spanish teacher, all from their school. On his way home from work, he's the one who discovers Jonas's dismembered body.
• Stern Teacher: The stern science teacher at Devil's Kettle school, he's rightly indignant over Jenniver's dismissive attitude toward the deceased, but lumps Needy into the same comment.

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